“Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.” – Thomas Jefferson
My favorite period in history is the Revolutionary War and Constitutional period of our country (USA). The reason is that it was the first time in human history where enlightenment philosophical ideas were purposely integrated into the creation of a government, not for self-interest, but for the greater good.
Jefferson was perhaps the most famous of those who pushed the philosophical ideas of the enlightenment into the forefront, but he was by no means the only one.